Wealth planning for
Skokie families.

Yes. Skokie is one of roughly thirty Cook County and Lake County communities we serve from its Evanston office at 909 Davis Street. The firm has been planning retirements for Cook County families since 1977, and meets Skokie clients in the Evanston office, at their home, or by video call.

Skokie's diverse community includes a high proportion of long-tenured public sector employees, teachers, municipal workers, and healthcare workers, who are retiring with Illinois pension income from TRS or IMRF alongside modest personal savings. Our Skokie retirement planning often centers on the specific mechanics of Illinois public pensions: when to retire to maximize the pension multiplier, how the pension interacts with Social Security under the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), and how to supplement pension income when it doesn't fully cover living expenses. we coordinate Social Security claiming, retirement account withdrawals, annuity and life insurance placements, long-term care funding, and estate decisions into one written plan tailored to the Skokie cost of living.

Skokie offers retirees the best of both worlds, proximity to Chicago amenities with a more affordable cost of living than Evanston or Wilmette. Many of our Skokie clients are long-time residents who want to retire comfortably in the community they know. Skokie's median home value of $320,000 and median household income of $68,000 mean planning here's shaped by local cost-of-living realities, not a national average. Roughly 30% of Skokie residents are over 55, and many have spent decades building equity that now needs to be coordinated with retirement income, healthcare, and estate decisions.

Cook County's property tax rates, averaging 1.8-2.3% of assessed value, among the highest in the nation, are the single largest variable in most North Shore retirement budgets. A home assessed at $900,000 in Northbrook, Glenview, or Wilmette can carry an annual tax obligation of $16,000-$22,000 that persists through retirement unless the home is sold or downsized. Illinois partially offsets this with one of the most retirement-friendly income tax structures in the country: Social Security, IRA distributions, and pension income are entirely exempt from state income tax, leaving the property tax burden as the primary financial challenge to plan around. For Skokie retirees specifically, this means treating property taxes as a non-negotiable fixed expense and building a guaranteed income floor, typically from Social Security and, where appropriate, an annuity, that covers them regardless of market conditions.

Illinois's exemption of pension income from state income tax is particularly valuable for Skokie retirees drawing from TRS or IMRF, they pay zero Illinois state income tax on that income. Our Skokie tax strategy work focuses on the interaction between pension income and IRA distributions, Social Security taxation at the federal level (up to 85% may be taxable), and optimizing the order and timing of IRA withdrawals to stay in the lowest possible federal bracket.